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Independent, free, and rebellious in his own way, Jack Kerouac was an idol for many young high school and college students. This is one of the key points made in the article, written by Tim Cresswell. This was an article that not only explains Kerouac’s impact on modern society with great depth, but it also shines light upon the symbolism and literary aspect of Jack Kerouac’s ‘On the Road’, in a profound manner. Cresswell compares the character Sal Paradise (based off of Kerouac, himself) to that of the pioneers that traveled across America to the West Coast in wagons. This is a paper that attempts to analyze the relationship between geographical mobility and its attached values and it does it with great success.I have referred back to this source immensely, because it has proved many points that I would have never guessed otherwise. It is an insightful analysis that does great justice for Kerouac’s classic ‘On the Road.’

This article compares the opinions of Nancy M. Grace and Michael Hrebeniak, regarding Jack Kerouac’s writing style. However, all three of these writers compare Kerouac’s “mid-century” work to that of Whitman, Proust, Melville, and/or Joyce. Grace further states that this may not necessarily be a good thing, for according to Grace; this may mean that Kerouac’s writing style mimics, or “eludes” the work of the very authors that inspired him. This article went completely against my initial thoughts of Kerouac and what his status was as a writer during the Cold War. Originally, I believed Kerouac to be the face of the “Beat Generation”, but according to Jonathan P. Eburne, both Grace and Hrebeniak, “situate Kerouac within a broad field of experimental literature rather than viewing him simply as the public face of the Beat "generation" or as the voice of a literary movement.” She does, however, state that Kerouac was indeed a part of the movement; his role was just not as “vital” as the general consensus believes it to be. Grace made the accusation that Kerouac’s writing style is suspiciously similar to the writing styles of Wolfe, Miller, Nin, Proust, and Céline, which even if this statement is true, how would this really effect Kerouac’s chance in being deemed a “Great American Author?” This article covers multiple similar, but different opinions on the subject of Jack Kerouac’s literary work. While asking myself the question, “Is Jack Kerouac a “Great American Author”, I can come up with a single opinion. Nevertheless, it is a variety of multiple opinions that will allow me to come up with the best consensus that reflects not just one, but many different standpoints. Originally, I was just going to research analyses that supported Kerouac, but this article has given me an entirely new approach to finding resources.

From the opening of the first paragraph, until the end of the first chapter, this source is full of real life examples from Kerouac’s life, which helped to inspire his classic novel, “On the Road.” At the beginning of the book, “What’s Your Road, Man”, the first paragraph opens with a description of Jack Kerouac waiting in a limousine for his old friend Neal Cassady, who was in hopes of hitching a ride to San Francisco. Unfortunately for Neal, the driver wouldn’t let him on and Kerouac watched wistfully back at Neal’s solemn gaze, as the limo drove away. The author then explains how this cherished moment provided the inspiration for the concluding scene of, “On the Road.” Come the end of chapter 1, this novel discusses the importance of Kerouac’s typography skills, which he had possessed from a young age. This skill set was what made it possible for Kerouac to draft the entire, un-edited first draft of “On the Road” in only a matter of a few short weeks. It is also stated that the “odd-tempo”, in which he typed was influenced by jazz music. This fact may give the readers one question, “if “On the Road” was written to jazz, shouldn’t it be read to jazz, in order to receive the full effect?” This may be true, in Kerouac’s own opinion considering that when he would recite his novels, it rarely went without a background theme of jazz.”

National Public Radio’s early morning broadcast, “Kerouac’s On the Road” was an enchanting report that explored Kerouac’s inspiration behind the novel, “On the Road.” This source also explains the repercussions of Kerouac’s success after his classic novel had received the acclaim. In particular, the report makes one contemplate the possible reasons for Kerouac’s “life choice” of seclusion after people had wrongly interpreted Kerouac’s intentions in several of his novels. For years, especially throughout the duration of his lifetime, fans and critics alike misrepresented Kerouac’s literature as an “antiestablishment” pieces of work. Montagne interviews Douglas Brinkley, a scholar of Kerouac’s works, who says that when the sixties came around, Kerouac turned to a life of alcoholism. He then says part of which was due to the overwhelming amount of fame he had: women wanted to make love with him; men wanted to fight with him. Brinkley then elaborates that the general perception of Kerouac was that as hard as he tried, he couldn’t get across his love for his nation. He discusses that Kerouac’s literature was like a “Valentine to the United States. He continues, “All this is pure poetry for almost a boy's love for his country that's just gushing in its adjectives and descriptions.”

Understanding Jack Kerouac is a book that proves itself worthy of being called an “educated resource.” It’s as clear as day to the reader that an immense amount of research and time was invested into the compilation of this dense work. Each chapter manages to be organized and concise, yet they avoid being brief. Understanding Jack Kerouac thoroughly explains his life story and how it pertains to his work. Theado draws in depth conclusions from the themes of each of Kerouac’s novels. In specific, he discuses the theme of spirituality and meditation from ‘On the Road’ and actually compares and contrasts it to the theme of spirituality depicted in Kerouac’s, ‘Dharma Bums.’ Brimming full with quotes and excerpts from an entire collection of Kerouac’s novels, this provided helpful information to those who have already read his works, but presents various themes in an understandable fashion, in order to keep the attention and understanding of those who haven’t read Kerouac’s entire list of works.